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MissouriFamilies.org - Food and Fitness

 

Feature Articles: Holidays

 

Gift Ideas for Active Living

Linda Rellergert, Nutrition Specialist in St. Charles County
University of Missouri Extension

 


Looking for just the right gift for someone special on your list? Consider something that promotes an active lifestyle like the items on this list. Or, circle the items you’d like to find in your stocking on Christmas morning and leave the list where Santa’s helpers can’t help but notice it.
 

Walking or athletic shoes. Since it is difficult to judge proper fit for someone else, purchase a gift certificate for shoes at an athletic-goods store and wrap in a shoebox.
 

Athletic socks. Fit is important, but since socks come in only a few sizes, these are easy to buy for someone else.
 

Comfortable and pretty clothes for your favorite activities—skiing, walking, jogging, cycling or aerobics. Athletic stores are the best bet, with better selections and knowledgeable sales people to help.
 

Hand and ankle weights.
 

Workout videos. Both of these are highly recommended:
 

Strong Women Stay Young—Learn to do strength-training exercises correctly in this 50-minute video. $19.95 plus $4.00 postage and handling. Order from Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, P.O. Box 225, Tranquility, NJ 07879-0225.
 

Chair Dancing—A fun way to get aerobic exercise and to improve muscle tone and flexibility. Adaptations for different fitness levels are included in the video, $19.95. Order by calling (800) 551-4FUN, or from Chair Dancing® International, Inc., 2658 Del Mar Heights Road, Del Mar, CA 92014
 

Books:
 

Great Shape: The First Fitness Guide for Large Women by Pat Lyons and Debby Burgard published by iUniverse.com, Inc., 2000. ISBN 0-595-08883-X. $16.95.
 

Strong Women Stay Young by Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D. with Sarah Wernick, Ph.D., published by Bantam Books, 2000. ISBN 0-553-38077-X, $13.95.
 

Strong Women Strong Bones: Everything You Need to Know to Prevent, Treat, and Beat Osteoporosis by Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D. with Sarah Wernick, Ph.D., published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2000. ISBN 0-399-14597-4, $23.95.
 

Hiking Missouri by Kevin M. Lohraff, published by Human Kinetics Publishers, May 1999.
 

One Hundred Nature Walks in the Missouri Ozarks by Alan McPherson, Lonnie Russell (Illustrator) published by Cache River Press, May 1997.
 

Missouri Hiking Trails: A Detailed Guide to Selected Hiking Trails on Public Land in Missouri by Ramon D. Gass, Bernadette C. Dryden (Editor), Charles W. Schwartz (Illustrator) published by Missouri Department of Conservation, July 1996.
 

Membership in the local YMCA, Rec-Plex or other fitness center.
Gift certificate for an aerobics, tai chi or yoga class at one of the above. Make it for two and enroll yourself to make it even more fun!
 

Make coupons good for any activity your recipient would enjoy doing with you—walking, hiking, cycling, skating, dancing, sledding.
 

If your budget allows a bit more extravagant gift, how about a trip that includes plenty of activity—to the mountains for skiing, up north for snowshoeing, down south for swimming.

 

 

 

 

Last update: Thursday, September 28, 2006

 

 

 

 

 

 


 
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